Radical Institutionalism for the 21st Century
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM (CST)
- Chair: Luke Petach, Belmont University
The House Always Wins: Gambling as a Veblenian Social Practice
Abstract
The unequal distribution of economic rewards under capitalism requires institutions that perpetuate “enabling myths” which justify the distribution as fair or natural. In this paper, we argue that the rise in popularity of sports betting in the United States reflects an increasing reliance of neoliberal capitalism on one particular enabling myth: the belief in luck. Veblen’s writing in Theory of the Leisure Class suggests the belief in luck as a “minor myth” that helps sustain the grand marginalist myth at the heart of neoliberal capitalism: the myth of meritocracy. The belief in luck provides an alternative rationalization for unfavorable economic outcomes when meritocracy breaks down. Rather than resulting from systemic or individual failures incompatible with meritocratic logic, the belief in luck ascribes negative economic outcomes to an otherwise teleological or supernatural force. Gambling in general—and sports betting in particular—constitutes a Veblenian social practice that serves to inculcate the belief in luck, thereby aiding in the naturalization and justification of economic inequalitiesFinancialized Labor in a “Post”-COVID Economy: Revisiting Original Institutionalist Approaches to Distribution
Abstract
Prior to the COVID-19 Pandemic, a general trend associated with money manager capitalism was the increase in contingent labor relations. As Baranes (2022) argued, this trend is part and parcel of a financialized economy, in which these contingent labor arrangements served to improve liquidity and increase shareholder value. During COVID-19, the policies implemented generally served to benefit corporate shareholders, with gains to labor either lagging or non-existent. In this paper, I examine the lasting impact this financialized approach to COVID policy has had on labor relations. This is especially important in the light of the Great Resignation, conflict over return to office, and subsequent post-COVID inflation, which I argue here can be best understood as the result of conflict over the distribution of income. As I argue here, there is indeed a theory of distribution in original institutional economics, which argues that the distribution of income is dependent upon and determined by the underlying value structure embedded within economic, social, and political institutions. In applying this approach to labor relations in a post-COVID economy, we may develop a better understanding of a) how and why financialization has generated persistent income inequality under money manager capitalism; b) the way in which public policy can and has affected income distribution; and c) what we can expect to come next for labor relations in post-COVID money.The Social Nature of Property: An Analysis Using Hohfeldian Jural Relations
Abstract
As John R. Commons taught us nearly 100 years ago and has been reinforced by scholars like Warren Samuels in the middle and late 20th century, the legal and economic system co-evolve with each other and co-determine the performance we observe. In particular, the concept of the ongoing social and legal definition of property and its uses is crucial to understanding economic dynamics and performance over time. Part one of this paper is to develop a conceptual model for thinking about the social nature of property and the formation of property rights. The Hohfeldian jural relations model developed by Klammer and Scorsone (2022) will be used to explore the social nature of property in part one. Part two of this paper is an application of the conceptual model to case study. The Federal Energy Review Commission (FERC) is a prime regulator regarding the permitting of new interstate oil and gas pipelines. It exerts important authority over the use of oil and gas firms private property. The FERC has been engaged in shifting its permitting rules to consider greenhouse gas emissions but has been challenged both directly and indirectly on its authority to alter the criteria under which it makes decisions. The second part of the paper applies the conceptual framework of the social nature of private property developed in part one of this case study to understand the implications for economic analysis.“Dark Entrepreneurship Theory" and Veblenian Waste
Abstract
The notion of dark entrepreneurship recently has developed in the entrepreneurship literature. In contrast to the positive light with which entrepreneurial behavior is traditionally taught, this dark theory recognizes and examines the detrimental consequences of certain entrepreneurial endeavors. For those in the institutionalist tradition, recognition of harmful entrepreneurial behavior has long been understood. This paper provides a refinement of the definition of dark entrepreneurship by integrating dark theory with the notion of Veblenian waste, and in so doing introduces institutionalists to this new promising line of inquiry in entrepreneurship theory. Entrepreneurship is defined broadly as purposeful behavior aimed at altering or disrupting the unfolding patterns of production and distribution. By examining the practice of entrepreneurship occurring within the constraints of the existent socio-economic valuation processes that incentivize wasteful undertakings, the conditions for and characteristics of non-invidious and serviceable creative endeavors can be illuminated.“Debt State Capitalism” as a Feature of Modern Capitalism
Abstract
According to the fiscal statistics of advanced countries (France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) since 1880, the fiscal structure has changed significantly before and after WWII (excluding the war period). Moreover, since the 1970s and 1980s, there have been even greater changes. This means a change in the way government finances are involved in the capitalist economic system. The capitalist system has come to require large-scale of government expenditure, however, government revenues have grown on a scale that is not adequately funded. It is a capitalism heavily dependent on the state, a kind of “state capitalism”. Its form is state capitalism in a "debt state." Also, the monetary easing policy linked to the indirect underwriting of government bonds by the central bank through the fiscal deficit as an aspect of state capitalism. This research examines the changes in the relationship between the capitalist economic system and national finances in modern times.JEL Classifications
- B5 - Current Heterodox Approaches
- P1 - Capitalist Economies